Not-for-Profit Advisory Council

The AICPA Not-for-Profit Section is a community for not-for-profit professionals and their business advisors. Our mission is to deliver information, tools, and resources to professionals that facilitate timely compliance with standards and regulations, promote the excellence of our members as leaders in the nonprofit sector, and serve as a connector for peer-to-peer learning and information sharing.

Jennifer Brenner 
Jennifer Brenner, CPA,CFE is controller at World Vision US, a billion dollar not-for-profit organization. She has more than fifteen years of public and private accounting experience, including domestic and international accounting and tax compliance. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner. Jennifer received her bachelors degree in accounting from Central Washington University. She serves as chair of the AICPA’s Not-for-Profit Industry Expert Panel and also holds memberships in the Washington Society of CPAs and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Contact Jennifer at jbrenner@worldvision.org.

Jennifer Casacchia
Jennifer Casacchia, CPA, is a senior audit manager with Sikich LLP’s not-for-profit and higher education practices team at the firm’s headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. She has more than 20 years of experience working extensively with not-for-profit and higher education organizations and more than 14 years in public accounting. Jennifer is a member of the Illinois CPA Society and serves as a member of the Illinois CPA Society’s Not-for-Profit Content Advisory Group. She previously served on the Illinois CPA Society’s Not-for-Profit Organizations Committee and Not-for-Profit Organizations Conference Committee. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from North Central College. She is a licensed CPA in the state of Illinois.

Contact Jennifer Casacchia at jennifer.casacchia@sikich.com.

Cathy J. Clarke
Cathy Clarke, CPA is the Chief Assurance Officer within CliftonLarsonAllen LLP's national audit and assurance quality group and is based in the firm's national office in Minneapolis, MN. Her primary responsibilities include overseeing the audit quality with the firm, being a technical resource for her firm's audit and assurance practice and quality review of assurance and accounting engagements. She has experience in preparing and conducting training sessions for audit and accounting staff and clients of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, the AICPA and the Minnesota Society of CPAs. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. She is the immediate past chair of the AICPA's Not-for-Profit Industry Expert Panel. Throughout her career, Clarke has served a variety of clients in numerous industries, with an emphasis on not-for-profits and health care entities.

Contact Cathy Clarke at cathy.clarke@claconnect.com.

Karen Craig
Karen Craig, CPA is a consultant providing technical accounting, reporting, finance, and analytical expertise to not-for-profits with a focus on higher education. She holds a degree in journalism and an MBA from California Polytechnic State University and is a licensed CPA in California. From 2002 to 2009, Karen was an Associate Controller at Stanford University where she was responsible for the overall operations of the university's investment accounting, financial reporting, capital accounting, payroll and disbursements departments. Prior to her work at Stanford, she was Controller for a software startup company and a Senior Audit Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Karen hold memberships in the AICPA, in which she is an ex-officio member of the AICPA Not-for-Profit Industry Expert Panel, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in which she is a technical advisor to its Accounting Principles Council.

Contact Karen Craig at klcraigs1@gmail.com.

Alyssa Federico
Alyssa Federico, CPA serves as Vice President for Finance at Foundation for the Carolinas in Charlotte, NC. Her primary responsibilities include serving as the foundation's financial point of contact for client relationships and other accounting-related issues. She manages the daily activities of the finance team, oversees the internal controls of the Foundation and ensures adequate controls exist. Federico holds a bachelors degree in accounting and a masters of professional accountancy in taxation from the University of Utah. She has more than sixteen years of experience in auditing and not-for-profit accounting. She spent five years in the field of public accounting. She currently serves as a member of the Accounting Practices Committee and as Treasurer for the Fiscal and Administrative Officers Group (FAOG), a national network of community foundation finance, administrative and investment executives; as a finance and audit committee member for Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and CharlotteWorks; and as a member of the FASB Resource Group on their current not-for-profit financial statement project.

Contact Alyssa Federico at afederioc@fftc.org.

G. Bliss Jones
Bliss Jones, CPA is the director of Jones and Kolb's not-for-profit practice in Atlanta, GA and is responsible for overseeing its services to a wide variety of organizations. He has more than thirty-five years of experience specializing in the not-for-profit sector and is a frequent speaker on key issues impacting the industry. Jones earned a bachelors in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a masters of accountancy from the University of Georgia. He serves on the boards of four not-for-profits. He has previously served on a variety of AICPA not-for-profit related panels and task forces.

Contact Bliss Jones at gbj@joneskolb.com.

Stephen H. Kattell
Steve Kattell, CPA is the sole owner of Kattell and Company, P.L. in Gainesville, FL. He founded Kattell and Company in 2004 to provide assurance, tax and consulting services exclusively for not-for-profits. Kattell received his MBA with a concentration in accounting from the University of Florida in 1984 and has worked in public accounting since graduation. Kattell served on several committees and of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the AICPA, including serving as Chair of the Not-for-Profit Industry Expert Panel from 2003 to 2007. He has spoken extensively on accounting, auditing and tax related topic at local, state and national venues.

Contact Steve Kattell at skattell@kattell.com.

Betsy Krisher
Betsy Krisher is President and Director of Nonprofit Services of Maher Duessel, a Pennsylvania firm specializing in service to not-for-profit organizations and governmental entities. A licensed CPA in Pennsylvania for more than 30 years, Krisher has extensive experience with not-for-profit organizations including foundations, environmental and human service agencies, and associations, as well as community development, arts/humanities, religious, and member-based organizations. Krisher serves on several committees of the AICPA and the PICPA, including the AICPA’s Tax Resource Panel for Exempt Organizations. She previously served on the AICPA’s Non-Profit Expert Panel/Audit Guide Revision Task Force. A Leadership Pittsburgh graduate, Krisher also volunteers her time with Board service for the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Executive Women’s Council. She speaks annually to various organizations on not-for-profit accounting and tax matters.

Contact Betsy Krisher at bkrisher@md-cpas.com. 

Tim McCutcheon (Chair)
Tim McCutcheon, CPA is a partner in Eide Bailly LLP's national not-for-profit practice and chairs the firm's Nonprofit Technical Issues Committee. As a CPA for over thirty-five years, he has served not-for-profits as CFO, independent auditor, tax advisor, business consultant, volunteer and board member. His experiences from both inside and outside of a wide variety of organizations gives him a practical and balanced view of industry issues and the concerns of the industry's varied stakeholders, constituents and other interested parties. McCutcheon is past Chair of the Colorado Society of CPAs and current member of their Vision Committee. He was a member of the AICPA Not-for-Profit Industry Expert Panel from 2008 through 2012 and a member of the AICPA Alternative Investments Task Force. He instructs a variety of not-for-profit courses and board trainings and enjoys providing advanced training to not-for-profit executives.

Contact Tim McCutcheon at tmccutcheon@eidebailly.com.

Carolyn Mollen
Carolyn Mollen, CPA is the Chief Financial Officer at Independent Sector, the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations and corporate giving programs. She specializes in not-for-profit accounting and management issues, with an emphasis on financial reporting, budgeting and grants management. Prior to joining Independent Sector, Mollen was a manager with CliftonLarsonAllen LLP in their outsourcing department where she gained broad experience with many nonprofit organizations. She served as a member of the FASB Resource Group on Not-for-Profit Financial Reporting—Other Financial Communications. Mollen is an active member of the AICPA and Greater Washington Society of CPAs, for which she served as the Chair of the Not-for-Profit Section and the Not-for-Profit Symposium. In addition to her professional memberships, she serves as Treasurer for Travelling Players Ensemble, a theater camp, and as a member of the finance committee for Adventure Theater. Mollen earned her bachelor of arts at the College of William and Mary, a certificate in accounting from the University of Virginia, and a master of public administration from George Mason University. She is a licensed CPA in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Contact Carolyn Mollen at carolynm@independentsector.org.

Dave Moja
Dave Moja, CPA is a partner with Capin Crouse, LLP. He is dedicated to meeting client needs in the exempt organization tax arena through review of client returns, consulting engagements, training, and the compilation of Capin Crouse's annual Higher Education Tax Reporting Trends Project. Moja has spoken extensively at accounting and tax seminars across the country, including the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals, Christian Leadership Alliance National Conference, National Association of College and University Business Officers annual Tax Forum, and the Florida Institute of CPAs annual not-for-profit conference. He also hosts a quarterly not-for-profit tax webcast. Moja is a member of the IRS' Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT) and serves on the exempt organizations subcommittee. He is the current chair of the Florida Institute of CPA's (FICPA) conference committee. He is a member of the AICPA and the FICPA, and holds licenses in Colorado, Florida, and Georgia. He earned his bachelors degree from Florida State University.

Contact Dave Moja at dmoja@capincrouse.com.

Cheryl R. Olson
Cheryl Olson, CPA, CGMA is the Director of Not-for-Profit Consulting for Clark Nuber, PS, providing operational, financial, systems, and governance advisory services. Prior to joining Clark Nuber, she was Director, Council Financial Consulting at the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. For more than twenty years, she has dedicated her career to the not-for-profit sector in a variety of roles, serving as volunteer, consultant, assistant executive director, chief financial officer, auditor and tax accountant. Olson frequently shares her knowledge as an advisor, writer and presenter. She has previously served on the AICPA Not-for-Profit Financial Executive Forum planning team and the AICPA NFP Audit Committee Toolkit Task Force (1st and 2nd editions). Additionally, she is a member of the Oregon Society of CPAs Not-for-Profit Committee and previously served as Conference Chair. She graduated from the University of the Pacific with a bachelors degree in business and public administration with a concentration in accounting.

Contact Cheryl Olson at colson@clarknuber.com.

Brian Yacker
Brian Yacker, CPA, JD  has more than twenty years of tax, legal and accounting experience in serving exempt organizations. His areas of expertise include public support test calculations and planning; preparation of reasonable compensation studies; governance best practices consultation; recommendations regarding effective bylaws; conducting of EO governance check-ups; compliance with the §501(h) lobbying safe harbor; proper functional expense allocations; maximizing charity watchdog ratings; preparation of federal and state tax exemption applications; conducting of unrelated business income revenue stream studies; and the proper internal and external reporting of special event fundraisers. Yacker is actively involved in the AAA-CPA, serving on their board, finance committee, and executive Committee. He also serves on the board and as an executive committee member for BookEnds and as the Treasurer for the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership.  Yacker earned his bachelors degree in finance and marketing from the University of Virginia and his juris doctor from the Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington. His personal interests include hiking, camping, sports memorabilia collecting, playing fantasy sports, Asian cooking, and spending time with his wife, two daughters, and son.

Contact Brian Yacker at byacker@yhadvisors.com.